Matt glanced at his phone.
Fifteen missed calls from Freddie. Twenty-nine messages ranging from curiosity to rage. Rhian at least asked him to be careful.
Matt sighed. The air was warm, the sky bright over JFK airport. It smelt like car fumes and warm asphalt. Airplanes roared in the distance, competing with the honking, revving drivers waiting to ferry their passengers to the city. People bustled through the doors, bringing with them the icy air-conditioned frigidness of the terminal.
It was a few days ago that he had even met Wallace and now he was back in America, on some ridiculous man-hunt. Things had spun out of control and Wallace's warnings had begun to haunt him. They had left in the middle of the night. He almost felt bad at not telling Freddie or Rhian, but it wasn't as if they would have understood. They already made it quite clear they didn't like Wallace. In their words she was too like Charlotte. That simply meant she was altered and a possible health hazard.
Something came up. I need to sort it out. I will be home as soon as I can. Could be a few weeks though. I'll contact you when I can.
He hit the send button and stared at it for a long moment. He shouldn't feel guilty. This was bigger than them, than him, than anything that had happened so far. War was looming, even if others couldn't see it.
"You ready?" Wallace asked, watching him from behind thick-framed sunglasses.
Matt nodded, following her to the edge of the pavement in front of the arrivals hall. Yellow cabs were lined across the narrow street. Tourists and business people were clamouring for the next car in line. Matt sighed. It was going to take them ages to get a cab, and he didn't even know where they were going or what the plan was. Whatever it was, it was Wallace's plan.
Wallace stopped at the curb, her sun dress whipping in the air whistling beneath the underpass. She looked like any other tourist. She didn't look dangerous. She looked good and sweet.
But he had no idea if she was good or sweet. He doubted it. The truth was he didn't know if he could trust her, but it was better to be out doing something rather than cooped up at his grandmother's with Freddie and Rhian watching his every move.
"Don't look so worried," she said, smiling at him. He frowned. He knew if he could see her eyes her smile would be dangerous. She always looked dangerous when she smiled, as if she knew something he didn't.
"I'm not worried".
She put one hand on her hip and grinned, showing all her teeth.
"Can't hide from me, darling," she said, linking his arm and lifting her hand as if hailing a cab.
"Eh Wallace... we have to join the queue," he said, pointing at the taxi rank opposite.
"A taxi won't take us where we need to go".
As she lowered her hand, a huge black SUV pulled up beside them.
"Wallace?" he frowned. He was willing to go along with her to a certain extent, but this meant involving more people. Plus, it looked official.
"My friend Ronnie knows a few people," she shrugged. "They're on our side. Or at least my friends are. We don't want to go to war".
Matt's brow furrowed. He didn't seem to have a choice.
Two men, dressed in jeans and white t-shirts, hopped out and grabbed the floral suitcase Matt had been dragging. The larger of the two men tossed it into the trunk, while the other opened the door for Wallace and Matt. Wallace clambered in first, pulling off her sunglasses. Matt followed ignoring the knot of doubt in his stomach.
A girl with white-blonde hair and long elegant features sat in the driver's seat, chewing gum and tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. Loud rock music played on the radio.
"Don't you look nice," she remarked, smirked at Wallace.
"Undercover". Wallace grinned her usual dangerous grin that made Matt feel he was missing out on something. "You couldn't have acquired a less obvious car?"
"I liked this one," the driver shrugged.
The other two men climbed in. Matt squirmed, pinned between Wallace and a huge, bulging beast of a man. The other man climbed into the front of the car. Obvious or not, he would have preferred a bigger car.
"You must be Desmarais," the blonde girl said, raising her near invisible eyebrows at him and pulling into traffic without even glancing at the road.
"Must I?" he muttered. He leaned against Wallace, desperate to get some space. The colossal man had to be altered. He reminded him of Carrick Jones, only bigger. If Carrick could crush a man's skull he didn't want to think what this man's large, meaty hands could do.
"Not embarrassed to be a Desmarais, are you Matt?" Wallace grinned, revealing all her teeth.
The girl driving guffawed, a sound clashing with her elegant appearance. She hit her hand off the steering wheel as if it was the funniest thing in the world.
Matt frowned. He didn't get the joke.
"This is Ronnie," Wallace said, indicating the blonde girl, who waved, weaving through the traffic without looking away from him.
"And this is Callahan". Wallace gestured to the man beside Matt. He was in his late twenties, his head shaved and his thick neck lost between his square jaw and bulging shoulders.
"Nathan is in the front. Say 'hi' Nathan".
Nathan glanced back at them and grinned, his teeth black pointed nubs and a forked tongue flickering between them like that of a snake.
"I think he likes you," Ronnie laughed, hitting the steering wheel again.
"Nathan doesn't talk".
Nathan grinned again, his tongue poking through his pointed teeth. He dipped his sunglasses so Matt caught sight of radioactive-green eyes. Matt didn't want to know what Kingston had done to him.
"So, you've heard the news I suppose?" Ronnie sighed.
She was playing with the radio, weaving in and out of the lanes of traffic with apparent ease, though she didn't look to the road once.
"Who hasn't?" Wallace replied. "Do they have any leads on who took them?"
"Nothing has been said yet, but..." Ronnie paused. She passed across three lanes of traffic before squealing "I love this song".
"Focus Ronnie," Wallace sighed, in a tone suggesting she was used to Ronnie's distraction.
"Oh... um, well, they were held in St Othmar's so they were pretty serious about security".
"What's St Othmar's?" Matt asked, feeling the eyes of everybody in the car turn on him.
Nathan's fork tongue flickered between his teeth as he grinned. Callahan flexed his muscles squashing Matt even more. Ronnie continued to stare at him, not looking at the road, a crooked smile on her thin, pink lips.
Wallace shook her head. "It's where the really bad guys go. Nobody knows that much about it. The government likes it that way".
"How do you know about it then?"
"How do you think, darling?" she smiled tapping the side of her head. "Your father had his toes in many ponds, I got to explore many important minds in my time with him".
Matt ground his teeth. He hated her casual remarks to his father. He hated any marks about his father.
"St Othmar's is seriously high security. The best of the best," Ronnie added. "I mean it's mental stuff".
"He gets it Ronnie".
Wallace patted his hand as if to reassure him. He suppressed the urge to tell her to stay out of his head. She withdrew her hand.
"Alexander could have walked out of any facility. I've seen him tear steel and brick apart. I have seen him stop bullets mid-air. Our prisons would never hold him - even the best of the best".
"They would have had him sedated. He probably didn't even realise he was in a prison. Somebody took him from St Othmar's. Don't doubt that, but the only people who could have done that, are people like us".
"Altered?"
"Kingston's finest," Ronnie nodded.
"And the others?" Wallace asked.
"The others are still MIA. I mean, what did the government think was going to happen? That they would go quietly. Humans never fail to astound me with their stupidity".
"Ronnie, seriously?" Wallace sighed.
"What? It's obvious I'm not talking about you," she said meeting Matt's gaze in the rear view mirror. "You're an enlightened human".
"Eh thanks," Matt mumbled.
"Whatever is going on, whoever is behind this..." Wallace interrupted, hitting the back of Ronnie's seat "...this is exactly what they want. They are turning people on the wrong group of altered. It's a distraction. The government are so busy looking for Owens or Alexander that they don't seem to realise that somebody else attacked the Capitol Building".
"And that attack was only a start. We need to find Owens and the others. If we don't they'll walk straight into the trap".
"What's the trap?" Matt asked.
Wallace looked at him for a long moment, her forehead puckering and her hazel-green eyes darkening.
"Alexander is the trap".
Matt nodded, trying to appear nonplussed, but he knew Wallace would see through whatever charade he tried.
"How do you plan on finding her?"
"Oh we don't need to find her. We already know where she is," Ronnie said. "We'll see her in no time".
Matt nodded, chewing the inside of his lip. He didn't think it wanted to see her at all.
Thanks so much for reading Feared. Some new characters to get to know here, I hope you like them!! I would love so much if you could vote and comment! Every vote and comment counts! It keeps my stories up there so more people can come across them! I really do appreciate every ounce of support from you lovely people! Until next time, Sorcha x